Focus Areas

CoSN helps education technology leaders address key challenges as they transition to digitally enabled learning environments. Support, resources, and tools are provided for school district administrators, educators, and educational organizations to leverage the power of technology to improve student learning. CoSN offers assistance and expertise in three critical areas of educational technology: Leadership and Vision, Instructional Focus, and IT Management. These focus areas help districts undertake comprehensive digital transformations.

CoSN’s Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL)® program is based on the Framework of Essential Skills – a body of knowledge that defines the skill areas critical to today’s educational technology leaders. The Framework focuses on:

Leadership and Vision

Understanding the Educational Environment

Managing Technology and Support Resources

Under each of these areas, the Framework further identifies specific responsibilities and the knowledge needed to perform these responsibilities in order to be a successful CTO in today’s educational environment. Each of these categories includes 10 specific skill areas, outlining the responsibilities and knowledge needed to be a viable educational technology leader:

In any technology implementation, leadership and vision are critical prerequisites. These skills improve the capacities of district administrators to implement policies and practices to enable innovative learning environments for their schools. Explore these topics to develop and refine your skills in leadership and vision:

CoSN works to improve student outcomes at the classroom level by leveraging technology to improve instructional strategies. Explore these topics to improve your instruction and classroom learning skills:

Many school districts around the country are undergoing digital conversions to enable the use of technology in classroom learning. School district leaders face a number of technical challenges associated with large-scale technology implementations, from cybersecurity and broadband capacity to fiscal restraints.